Published 1:39 pm, Friday, February 27, 2015

NORWALK — Congressman Jim Himes on Friday joined fellow Democrats in rejecting a three-week funding extension put forward by Republicans for the Department of Homeland Security.

Himes, in a statement afterward, urged Republican leaders “to stop the political theater and pass a clean Homeland Security funding bill without further delay.”

“Our country can't afford to keep stumbling from one manufactured crisis to another,” said Himes, D-4. “The Department of Homeland Security is absolutely vital to our nation’s security - we must not allow it to shut down. A short-term funding extension will delay critical grants for Southwest Connecticut’s first responders, police and firefighters, while exacerbating the uncertainty for the agencies that lead our counterterrorism efforts and protect our borders and airports.”

Earlier Friday, the Republican-controlled House unexpectedly rejected short-term funding for the Department of Homeland Security on Friday, increasing the prospect of a partial shutdown at midnight of an agency with major anti-terrorism responsibilities.

The vote was 224-203 against the measure, as 52 Republicans defected on the leadership-backed legislation.

A combination of conservative, tea party-backed Republicans on one side of the political aisle and Democrats on the other opposed the bill. The first group was upset because the legislation had been stripped of changes to President Barack Obama's immigration policy, and the second because it lacked full-year funding for the sprawling department.

With less than seven few hours remaining before the midnight deadline, it was unclear what Speaker John Boehner and other Republican leaders would next propose.

Democrats led by Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California urged them in advance to allow a vote on a bill to keep the department in funds through the Sept. 30 end of the budget year — a step the GOP high command had previously refused to take.

"You have made a mess," Pelosi said to Republicans as debate neared an end on the measure.

That wasn't how tea party-backed rebels saw it.

"It does not make any difference whether the funding is for three weeks, three months or a full fiscal year. If it's illegal, it's illegal," said Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala.

Other conservatives disagreed with that sort of analysis in large numbers — and said so.

"It's the best solution that we have available to us right now," said Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark. "Nobody wants to shut down the Department of Homeland Security."

An early, 240-183 test vote in the House indicated ample support for the spending bill, but a short while later the House was gaveled into recess while the search went on for support to pass the legislation itself.

"The House must pass this bill in short order to keep the lights on at the Department of Homeland Security in the near term," said Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky. "Hopefully, this will buy us this additional time that we clearly need."

Democrats argued against the measure, saying their preference was a longer-term bill to provide funding that carries the department trough the Dept. 30 end of the budget year without attempting to alter immigration policy. It cleared the Senate Friday on a vote of 68-31.

"Give us a vote, Mr. Speaker. Give us a vote. Instead, drip, drip, drip," said Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader.

Some House Republicans agreed, noting that Senate Democrats had demonstrated their ability to block any challenges to Obama's immigration policies, and that the president had vowed to veto them in any event.

"The only question is when — tomorrow or in three weeks," said Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa. "Some folks just have a harder time facing political reality than others."

Obama's first immigration directive, in 2012, lifted the threat of deportation from many immigrants brought to the country illegally as youngsters. Another order last fall applied to millions more who are in the United States unlawfully.